THE VEGETATION AND FLORA OF NAURU – 2007 Current Status, Cultural Importance and Suggestions for Conservation, Restoration, Rehabilitation, Agroforestry and Food, Health and Economic Security Report prepared for the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Resources and the Nauru Rehabilitation Corporation, Republic of Nauru R. R. Thaman1, D. C. Hassall2 and Shingo Takeda3 Secretariat of the Pacific Community Land Resources Division Suva, Fiji Islands January 2009 1 Professor of Pacific Islands Biogeography, Faculty of Islands and Oceans, The University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji Islands. 2 Director, Yurrah Integrated Landscape Solutions, Windsor, Queensland, Australia. 3 GIS Consultant, School of Geography, Faculty of Islands and Oceans, The University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji Islands. © Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) 2009 Original text: English Secretariat of the Pacific Community Cataloguing-in-publication data Thaman, R. R. The vegetation and flora of Nauru – 2007: current status, cultural importance and suggestions for conservation, restoration, rehabilitation, agroforestry and food, health and economic security / R. R. Thaman, D. C. Hassall and Shingo Takeda 1. Plant ecology – Nauru. 2. Botany – Nauru. I. Hassal, D. C. II. Takeda, Shingo. III. Secretariat of the Pacific Community. 581.509685 AACR2 ISBN 978-982-00-0314-9 Secretariat of the Pacific Community Suva Sub-regional Office Private Mail Bag Suva FIJI ISLANDS Tel: +679 337 0733 Fax: +679 337 0021 Email:
[email protected] Printed by Quality Print Limited, Suva, Fiji Islands DEDICATION We dedicate this report to the late Joseph Detsimea Audoa, former Minister of Health and Education and Minister of Justice in the Government of Nauru, who, because of his vision and commitment to the culture and environment of Nauru, initiated and provided the financial support for the 1980s study of the flora of Nauru, and to the people of the Republic of Nauru who have had their precious island and its vegetation and flora destroyed and degraded as a result of wars and exploitation beyond their control.